Brother Ali
Satisfied Soul
Mello Music Group
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Given the state of the United States today, where the voiceless are being increasingly marginalized by self-interested billionaires and grifters, and the weight of the daily chaos has become too much for many to bear, Brother Ali’s Satisfied Soul is the right album for the right time. The tenth full-length project by the Minnesota resident is an extended hymn to the strength of love and music, serving as an inspirational sermon that seeks to empower its audience.
It’s weird to write that we’ve watched Ali Douglas Newman “grow up” throughout his career, as Ali was already married with a child when he released Shadows On The Sun (2003), the project that introduced him to much of his audience. More than two decades later, the emcee is on his second marriage and has four children. He has dealt with the deaths of close family and loved ones, struggled to make ends meet, and has documented his battles with depression. Forged in this crucible, he brings to Satisfied Soul a maturity and assuredness that one would expect from a man in the midst of his forties, committed to “love with reckless abandon.”
The album’s subject matter is rich and varied, and Ali delivers it with the passion and conviction of a holy warrior. Through his vast gifts as an orator and storyteller, he creates an album with assured potency. Though he only delivers one of two verses on each song, these rhymes are littered with countless verbal jewels. He positions himself as a dynamic emcee who is devoted to spreading his wisdom, stating “I arrived with a wandering band that climbed out of a van / And held the mic like a wand in my dominant hand / Assume a confident posture and stance / And wrecked a record that we chopped in advance.”
Ali partners with long-time collaborator and close friend Ant to produce Satisfied Soul. Ant creates a backdrop that is bluesy and drenched in soul. The project feels like the spiritual sequel to one of Ali and Ant’s previous collaborations, Us (2009). That was the first album where Ali embraced his role as a “street preacher” speaking to the plight of the forgotten. Though Us is a dope project, Satisfied Soul is a more fully realized version of that endeavor.
Ali released an EP version of Satisfied Soul in November 2024. It was designed to whet the listeners’ appetites, featuring five songs that appear on the final version of the project. The complete Satisfied Soul is ambitious in scale, but straightforward in execution. Ali describes it as “a concept album where the songs all have drums / Words make sense when the raps come.”
On the blisteringly rugged “Higher Learning At The Skyway,” Ali narrates the arc of his career, explaining how he has established his legacy, now content with the impact he has made on the world. He looks back on his grind on “D.R.U.M.,” reveling in his ability to use music as an agent of unity, bringing fans together behind a common cause. He contrasts this with observations on the rampant injustice and oppression in the world on “Cast Aside,” resolving to champion those that the corrupt trample in pursuit of power and wealth.
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Ali uses his ample storytelling skills to advocate for a segment of the forgotten on “Under The Stars.” He rhymes from the perspective of a nameless homeless man, shunned by society, aware that his very presence makes many uncomfortable and a target of law enforcement. Ali chooses not to speak as flawless narrator, telling the story of a man suffering from mental illness and damaged by years of life on the fringes. However, Ali is aware that it is the imperfections that make the perspective even more human.
Ali also explores the triumphs, tragedies, and various eccentricities that he faces in life throughout Satisfied Soul. He has always been great at incorporating humor into his songs, as displayed on “Two Dudes,” where he spins a pair of tales about interactions with icons. He first describes a near-disastrous interaction with a pop megastar while rocking the stage at a party in a Jackson Hole, WY cowboy bar. Later, he relays an exceedingly awkward interaction with one of his heroes/idols while on the Rock the Bells tour. The hip-hop head in me cracked up at the verse’s final punchline.
Ali has never shied away from examining the difficulties that occur in his own life. He has documented the dissolution of his first marriage on multiple albums, and he revisits the soured dynamic on “Better But Us.” Rather than bitterness, Ali breaks things down with resigned understanding, wistfully remembering how even though his blue-collar rap career eventually paid dividends, it could not save things with his first wife. The subtext of the song spotlights the long-term stresses that living hand to mouth can have on a marital union.
Many of the tracks feature similar emotional depth. “Mysterious Things” deals with the complicated relationship Ali had with his father. He considers the overwhelming tide of the growing ill will in society on “Ocean of Rage,” explaining how many turn to “IG Reels, conspiracy theories, anxiety pills, new sneakers and high heels, automobiles, Black Friday deals” in order to cope.
He turns his gaze inwards on the introspective “Personal,” acknowledging his own limitations as a person. He seeks to improve himself through spirituality and therapy, resigning to “walk around acting like what I wish I could be” while noting “It isn't hypocrisy, that's a target I'm aiming at / Doesn’t mean I'm claiming it by naming it.”
He fittingly ends the album with “Sing Myself Whole,” which builds on the album’s theme on the power of music. The beat was made by Ant over a decade ago, and apparently has a lot of personal significance to him. Ali said a condition of using the beat was that Ant could take it back if he wasn’t satisfied with the result. Ali chooses to sing on the track, even though he has acknowledged that he has limited crooning abilities. He describes how in times of triumph and turmoil, music has given him a platform to express his thoughts and emotions and given him a platform to heal by sharing his experiences in front of audiences around the world.
During a time when people in positions of power continue to fail us on an hourly basis, a common refrain has been that we are all on our own, and no one is coming to “save” us. Brother Ali may not be the savior, but he is spreading an important message at a time when things appear their darkest. Material wealth is fleeting, but love and music can last forever.
Notable Tracks: “Better Than Us” | “Higher Learning At The Skyway” | “Two Dudes” | “Under The Stars”
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